Finger guard for clothes wringers



March 20, 1951 1 BUCHANAN 2,545,569

FINGER GUARD FOR CLOTHES WRINGERS Filed se t. 19, 1947 Inventor Thomas H. Buchanan Fig. 3 By ,3

WWW 8m Patented Mar. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES- PAFIZENT Thomas H. Buchanan, Steubenville, Ohio Application September 19, 1947, Serial No. 774,983

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in finger guards for clothes wringers on washing machines or the like, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herein described which, assuming the form of an attachment to a wringer, will minimize the possibility of the operators fingers becoming caught or otherwise entangled in the revolving wringer rollers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a finger guard of the type described, which is simple in construction and which may be quickly and easily applied to or removed from washing machine wringers of various types and sizes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a finger guard which will readily lend itself to economical manufacture and which will not interfere with the normal passage of clothes through the wringer.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a finger guard which is pleasing in appearance and whichis otherwise well adapted for the purpose for which it is intended.

Withthe above more important objects in view, and such other objects as may become apparent 1 Claim. (Cl. 68-264) as this specification proceeds, the invention condesignate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a finger guard designated generally by the reference character 5, which is adapted for use in association with the clothes wringer 6 of a washing machine 1.

The wringer 6 usually includes in its construction a pair of uprights 8 supporting an inverted channel-like housing member 9, the uprights 8 providing bearings for a pair of rotatable and mutually contactable wringing rollers l0, II, as will be clearly apparent.

The essence of novelty in the invention resides, of course, in the provision of the finger guard 5, this simply assuming the form of an elongated sheet of material 52, one longitudinal edge portion of which is provided with a plurality of apertures or slots l3 The apertured edge portion of the sheet portion I2 is inserted in the housing member 9 wherein it is rigidly secured by means of a plurality of bolts or screws l4, passing through the apertures l3.

As will be clearly apparent from Figure 3, a pair of finger guards is employed in association with the wringer, each of these guards being mounted on one side of the wringer assembly.

The mid-portions of the sheets l2 are longitudinally ccnvexo-concave and the convex sides thereof are disposed adjacent the roller H3, while the remaining longitudinal edge portions of the sheets are outwardly arcuated and form what may be referred to as substantially tubular guard rails [5.

By virtue of the guards 5, the fingers of the operator will be prevented from being caught between the rollers I0, I I, inasmuch as the guard rails IE will partially cover the line of contact between the rollers. However, it should be noted that the presence of the guards will not interfere with the normal wringing operation of the machine.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention ,it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In a clothes wringer, the combination of a housing including a pair of spaced side pieces and an inverted substantially U-shaped channel connecting the upper ends of the latter, a pair of superimposed contacting rollers journ-aled in said side pieces whereby a substantial portion of the upper roller is disposed within said channel, and a finger guard attachment, said attachment comprising a convexo-concave sheet having its concave side disposed adjacent but spaced from the periphery of the upper roller, said sheet having a reversely-curved upper longitudinal portion provided with a row of apertures, and fastening elements positioned in said apertures and. rigidly securing said sheet in said UNITED STATES PATENTS channel, the lower edge portion of said sheet be- Number Name Date ing outwardly arcuated to provide a substantially 1 161 244 Pawlak Nov. 23 1915 tubular guard rail disposed substantially at the 1493504 Schuessler May 1924 level of the contacting portions of said rollers 5 1:643:475 smith Jr. Sept 1927 an spaced outwardly thereflom- 1 710 224 ati 23 1929 THOMAS BUCHANAN 2,204,302 Czefra. June 11, 1940 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent: 

